Shed Of The Week: Honda Prelude
Does Japanese reliability extend to nearly a quarter of a million miles? Shed ponders
1978! How many of you were even alive in the year that Bulgarian dissident Georgi Markov was assassinated by a man wielding a poisonous umbrella, drumming wild man Keith Moon died, and Rod Stewart asked if we thought he was sexy. Admittedly, the fourth-gen Prelude first appeared a bit later, in 1991, the year in which the internet started. Yes, you read that right. If it wasn't for 1991 none of us would be sitting here reading this.
In an otherwise slabby Prelude history, the Gen 4 car was a refreshingly curvaceous interlude. Which raises the question, why did Honda never make an Interlude? Looking at it now, in a landscape blighted by boxy SUVs, Preludes of this vintage present an attractive and different profile. They're a good drive too. Believe it or not they used a Prelude as the Safety Car for the 1994 Japanese Grand Prix, so it's even got a motorsport pedigree.
Yes, the Gen 4 brought an end to the era of pop-up Prelude headlights. But let's get away from these pesky facts, which are all Tim Berners-Lee's fault. Let's look at what you get in a 1993 Prelude, 24 years later in 2017.
Well, you'll get that smart coupe styling, a degree of mini-barge comfort and with any luck a whole heap of Honda reliability. Lord knows the seller of this one has gone a long way in his 10-year ownership to set you up, as he doesn't seem to have been one of the many lucky Prelude owners. He tells us he holds a full service history and bills dating right back to 1994. There have been a lot of them, but he has persevered manfully through thick and thin. You could be the beneficiary of his investment.
Rust on the nearside rear suspension mounting point was sorted in 2014, but the same problem on the other side has been on the advisories list for the last couple of years now so will also need looking at sooner rather than later. A lot of suspension work has been carried out already, including replacements for cracked springs. This is entirely normal for a Prelude. The ABS warning light failed the car in 2012 by not illuminating: now it's illuminating rather too often.
This car looks well on the mileage, but even taking into account the history and the fact that there are probably less than two dozen of these running legally on UK roads, £1,000 might still be a bit too rich for an automatic Prelude. Even one that's nearly as old as the internet. But if, like Mrs Shed, you enjoy an occasional tickle in the bargain basement, youcould always try a cheeky offer.
230k miles, but engine & gearbox replaced at 150k in 2006. FSH with bills from 1994, MOT's from 1998, current MOT July 2017, Electric windows/mirrors/sunroof, cruise control, ABS, A/C (old system so needs converting), airbag and original alloys. In very good condition inside & out and drives very well.
Fully serviced in July 2016 and over the past 10 years I have also restored allot of the bodywork, paintwork, replaced the exhaust system, radiator, discs, battery, alternator and cam-belt twice, spending over £7k.
The electric aerial is a bit noisy & the ABS light comes on while driving, but resets when the car is re-started, so not an MOT failure. Replaced the O/S/R ABS sensor recently after eventually sourcing one, but it seems the ABS pump needs reconditioning or replacing soon?
I have no garage or time on my hands anymore, so the car needs a new enthusiast who is interested in continuing the restoration and its transformation to former glory for what is now becoming a rare Honda classic.
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